Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School told it requires improvement by Ofsted

Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School was reinspected on March 7-8 and given a ‘Requires improvement’ rating.

The school’s behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management were classed as ‘Good’, whilst its quality of education, and early years provision were both rated ‘Requires improvement’.

In its last full report, in 2016, St Aidan’s was a ‘Good’ school, but it had been in ‘Requires improvement’ since 2012 and was ‘Satisfactory’ from 2006.

What did Ofsted say was particularly good about St Aidan's?

The report starts: “There is a warm and caring culture at St Aidan’s Church of England Primary School. It is a nurturing environment for pupils. Staff forge strong relationships with pupils and know their families well. Pupils describe the school as a ‘family’. Through their attitudes and behaviours, pupils demonstrate the Christian values of the school, such as truthfulness, forgiveness and compassion.”

Pupils are also said to “strive” to meet the high aspirations leaders place on their learning, and they “have positive attitudes towards their work.”

Inspectors added: “Leaders have successfully steered the school through a period of challenge. Their focus on improving all aspects of school life is crystal clear. This is a school where leaders and staff hold what is best for pupils at the forefront of everything they do.”

The curriculum is described as “broad”, balanced”, and “suitably ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND”, whilst “leaders make checks to see how well teachers deliver the curriculum.”

In addition, the report noted: “Leaders make sure that pupils have many opportunities to enrich their learning beyond the academic curriculum. Leaders place a high priority on pupils’ mental health and well-being.”

What does St Aidan's need to improve on?

Inspectors wrote: “The teaching of early reading is inconsistent, and some pupils who fall behind do not receive the effective support they need to catch up. This means that some pupils do not learn to read accurately and fluently as quickly as they should.”

They added: “In some subjects, leaders have not identified the important knowledge they want pupils to learn or the order in which it should be taught. As a result, it is difficult for teachers to know what to teach or to check that pupils have learned all that they should. This means that pupils are not learning in these subjects in sufficient depth.”

What does St Aidan's say about their latest report?

Headteacher Leanne Finch said: “Whilst the overall outcome may not have been as positive as we would have wished there are clearly many things to celebrate. It is, for example, great to read how it was recognised that ‘There is a warm and caring culture at St. Aidan’s’ where ‘Leaders have high aspirations for pupils’ learning across the curriculum’. It is heartwarming that the inspectors could see that 'Staff forge strong relationships with pupils and know their families well.' and that 'Pupils describe the school as a ‘family’.' Our St Aidan's family is so important to us and something we are very proud of. These comments clearly pay tribute to the work carried out by all the staff, both teaching and non-teaching alongside, of course, the pupils in school.”